More information : (TQ 13700793) Flint Mines (GT)
(TQ 13710758) Flint Mines (GT)(1)
Flint mines at Cissbury occupy the western part of the hill fort
and extend outside the southern entrance. Excavated in 19th c and
dated fairly certainly, by pottery, and burial similar to one
at Whitehawk Camp, to the Neolithic period. (Plan see Cissbury
Hill Fort TQ 10 NW 1).(2)
Area of depressions of varying shape and depth marking the sites
of shafts, and of spoil heaps, under pasture, and small bushes.
Published 1:2500 survey revised on Field Document astrafoil.(3)
Prior to their recognition as the remnants of flint-mining, the numerous `hollows' concentrated towards the western side of the interior of Cissbury hillfort (TQ 10 NW 1), with scattered outliers both within and outside the lines of the Iron Age rampart, were subject to much 19th century speculation regarding their purpose and origin. Turner (4) is typical, assuming the hollows to be the work of the hillfort's occupants, and comparing suggestions for their use such as reservoirs for water or as `sites for rude huts'. However Turner rather more imaginatively preferred to see them as `dishbarrows', ie `holy consecrated recesses... formed for the special purpose of forwarding the celebration of the religious ceremonies of the ancient Britons...'.
The first published excavations into any of these hollows were undertaken by Irving (or rather by his workmen) in c1856 (5). He examined a hollow some distance south of Cissbury (see NAR no TQ 10 NW 77) before moving onto those within the hillfort where 10 were examined. Mistaking the chalk infill for the natural chalk bedrock, his trenches were inevitably too shallow to reveal the true nature of the hollows. The few finds he made appear to have been Roman in date, something which influenced his dating of the hillfort itself. As for function, he speculated along the lines of cattle pounds or pig styes.
Excavation by Lane-Fox in 1867-8 saw a further 30 hollows being examined. Again the chalk fill was misinterpreted as bedrock, with Lane-Fox referring in his report to `basin-shaped chalk hollows'. However Lane-Fox did note the presence of worked flints in large quantity, something that had escaped the attention of Irving, and correctly suggested that the pits had been dug for the purpose of obtaining flint. In fact, the abundance of flints coupled with the lack of anything else from his trench in the hillfort ditch led him to conclude that both flint-quarrying and hillfort construction belonged to `the stone age, or at any rate to the age of flint manufacture'. He briefly considered the possibility that the flint-quarrying predated the hillfort, noting the failure of the latter to completely enclose all traces of the former, but at this stage preferred to see them as more or less contemporary (6).
Stevens' account of Cissbury's flint-working is largely derivative of earlier writers, although he was also able to incorporate details of Greenwell's then-recent work at Grimes Graves. Stevens described and illustrated some of the 200 or so surface finds of flints obtained during a visit to Cissbury in August 1871. The quantity of `rude flint cutlery' inspired him to describe Cissbury as `the siliceous Sheffield of Sussex'. (7)
Greenwell's work at Grimes Graves led to renewed interest in Cissbury. In fact it appears to have been Greenwell, who had taken part in some of the 1868 excavations at Cissbury, who first made the comparison. In the early 1870s both Tindall and Willett completely excavated shafts at Cissbury, the latter noting that the flint-miners had ignored an upper level of flint in favour of superior material at a greater depth. At the base of the shaft he noted a series of shallow galleries radiating outwards, and speculated that some may join up with other nearby shafts, something more clearly demonstrated by subsequent work by Lane-Fox and Harrison (see below). Tindall died before he could publish details of his work. However, artefacts from his excavation included antler picks, scapulae, 2 cattle skulls, 4 perforated chalk lumps plus a hollowed out block of chalk interpreted as being a cup or lamp, as well as the inevitable flints. Some of the animal remains from Tindall's excavation were later published by Rolleston (8,9,11).
Willet's report led to the return of Lane-Fox to Cissbury. His renewed excavations in 1875, continued until early 1878 by J Park Harrison, demonstrated clearly that the flint-mining was earlier than hillfort construction. Shafts (and their galleries) inside, outside and beneath the rampart were investigated, and a number were observed to be cut through by the hillfort ditch or overlain by its bank. Two were found to contain human skeletons, and Neolithic pottery was also recovered, allowing the flint-mining to be more firmly dated to that period. Harrison became a little sidetracked with scratched markings on the chalk walls of the galleries, indulging in speculation as to their origin and meaning, whereas Lane-Fox in particular was rather more sceptical. In addition to the main flint mine shafts, Harrison also examined several shallower features which he interpreted as graves but appear more likely to be pits of probable Roman date (10-13,24,25,29,30).
In 1912, Reginald Smith discussed the dating of flint mines (16). He described and illustrated finds from both Cissbury and Grimes Graves, and suggested that the mining at both was Palaeolithic rather than Neolithic in date, sparking off a debate which wasn't settled until the 1930s (15).
20th century excavation at Cissbury has concentrated on the hillfort rather than the flint mines (se TQ 10 NW 1 for details and bibliography) although in 1952-55, JH Pull, who had already excavated at other flint-mine sites in Sussex, turned his attention towards Cissbury. He excavated 3 shafts and 3 flint-working areas, discovering a further human skeleton in the process. He also recorded 3 carvings of animal heads on one of the gallery walls (2 are reproduced by Holgate). Pull died before he could publish a report on his work (26).
3 radiocarbon dates have been obtained from antler from 19th century excavations, each from galleries radiating from different shafts. The dates are 2780+/-150bc, 2770+/-150bc and 2700+/-150 bc. All are later than dates obtained from other Sussex flint mines, but generally earlier than those from Grimes Graves (16,17).
Some flint implements from Cissbury are in Luton Museum (18).
10 `white flint flakes' from Cissbury were apparently among the Sturrock Collection when sold (19).
Leaf-shaped arrowhead from the fill of one of the shafts at Cissbury (20).
Miniature flint axe found in a mole scrape above the flint mines (21)
A number of Mesolithic tranchet axes are recorded as coming from Cissbury. Their precise provenance is unknown. Wymer gives the hillfort's NGR (22).
Discussion of the Cissbury mines and flints from the site (23).
Attempts to characterise flint mines using trace element analysis have included material from Cissbury. Initial attempts proved unsuccessful at distinguishing between flint from Cissbury and material from the nearby Blackpatch mines, but subsequent work suggested that it would be possible to differentiate between flint from the two sites (27,28).
A survey of Cissbury Rings hillfort and flint mines was undertaken by the RCHME in the Autumn of 1993 in response to a request by the National Trust, the owners of the site. The following is a summary of the full archive report, a version of which has been published. An extensive complex of neolithic flint mines, centred on TQ 13630788, lie both inside and outside the later hillfort at Cissbury (TQ 10 NW 1). They appear as a series of hollows ranging from 3m to 36m in diameter and up to 3m deep, the best preserved examples lying on the NW slopes of the hill within the hillfort ramparts. The shafts clearly underlie the hillfort defences, extending some 220m to the S and 30m to the W of the ramparts.
Around the lip of many of the shafts lie a series of mounds, some reaching to over 3m in height. These have almost certainly formed as a result of spoil extracted from the shafts. A number of smaller mounds, up to 0.5m in height, may be chipping floors and a series of shallow hollows in them could point to the position of shafthead working areas. A number of the spoilheaps within the hillfort appear to be arranged in a linear fashion, often following the contours.
Shallow hollows, undoubtedly mineshafts reduced by ancient ploughing, can be traced over much of the southern part of the hillfort, although due to the effects of later agricultural activity it is difficult to determine the full extent of the mined area. Despite this, the 1993 RCHME survey (on behalf of the National Trust) suggests that mining covered a minimum of 9ha and consisted of at least 270 mineshafts. See archive report for more detailed account. (31,32)
The 1993 survey of the flint mine complex also forms part of the RCHME project to record industry and enclosure in the Neolithic. See the archive report for further details. (33)
The earthworks of many of these flint mines described by the previous authorities are visible on aerial photographs takne in 1945.(34) |